This just in (insert teletype background sounds) ...
The assassin becomes a spontaneous caster.
Only fighters get the Tower Shield feat for free.
t. The Perform skill now has subcategories (like knowledge):
Act
Comedy
Dance
Keyboard instruments
Oratory
Percussion instruments
String instruments
Wind instruments
Sing
hh. Several spells have changed schools. Teleportation spells are now Conjuration (Teleporting) instead of Transmutation. Spells that utilized fear or curses have tended to get shifted to Necromancy. The power word spells are now Enchantment. The symbol spells are all either Enchantment or Necromancy.
ii. Days spent in item creation need not be consecutive. Your wizard can spend a couple days on a magic sword, go adventuring, then come back and finish it a week later.
(I feel a little better about assassins casting, now -- at least no spellbooks. Fighters get a nice bump with the free tower shield feat, too -- even with the -2 "to hit", +4 AC or total cover, which negates IPS, is pretty good, and everyone else has to pay for it. We're also seeing more evidence in a shift in the balance of power of spell schools.)
More:
s. More on DR: A creature with DR no longer automatically ignores the same types of DR with its attacks. When carried to the extreme in this new system, that creates some really strange effects. (For instance, skeletons have DR n/bludgeoning, but don't deal damage as bludgeoning weapons.)
Instead, the MM sets forth specific rules for how creatures can bypass the DR of other creatures.
1) A creature with DR bypassed by a specific type of weapon damage (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing) doesn't have any special ability to bypass other DRs. Skeletons can't hurt other skeletons any better than anyone else can.
2) A creature with DR bypassed by a certain material (adamantine, cold iron, silver) doesn't have any special ability to bypass other DRs. Lycanthropes can't hurt other lycanthropes any better than anyone else can.
3) The natural attacks of a creature with DR bypassed by magic weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of bypassing DR. Same for epic. Gargoyles can hurt other gargoyles as if all their natural weapons were magic.
4) A creature with DR bypassed by a certain alignment (chaotic, evil, good, lawful) doesn't necessarily have any special ability to bypass other DRs (but see #5, below). Devils can't hurt other devils any better than anyone else can.
5) The natural attacks AND weapon attacks of a creature with an alignment subtype (Chaotic, Evil, Good, Lawful) can overcome damage reduction as if those attacks and weapons had an alignment (or alignments) matching the creature's subtype(s). Fiends are really good at hurting celestials, and vice-versa.
6) A creature with DR that can't be bypassed (DR n/-) has no special ability to bypass other creatures' DR. Barbarians can't hurt other barbarians any better than anyone else can.
Each and every creature in the MM that has some ability to bypass DR includes a specific notation to that effect, so that DMs don't have to remember these rules except when creating new monsters.
ii. Teleport is limited to 100 miles/level.
jj. Meteor Swarm: the spell creates four 6d6 fireballs that can be targeted separately (each exploding in a 40-foot-radius spread). You can also fire each meteor at a particular target; a successful ranged attack deals 2d6 bludgeoning damage and allows no save against the resulting fireball. Assuming no special resistance or vulnerability, that's a best-case scenario of 32d6 damage, no save, to a single target and 24d6 damage, Reflex half, to everything within 40 feet.
kk. Enlarge: Enlarge person now increases a humanoid creature's size by one category. This gives the creature +2 Str, -2 Dex, affects its size modifier to AC & attacks, etc., etc. A Medium creature enlarged to Large would have a 10-ft. face and a 10-ft. reach. It doesn't grant the full benefits of a size increase associated with monster advancement, such as Con and natural armor boosts